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MHA Auchlochan, the owner and operator of the retirement complex Auchlochan Garden Village, has appointed accountancy firm Azets as joint administrators.
Blair Milne, James Fennessey and Robert Young, insolvency practitioners at Azets will be leading the team.
According to Auchlochan, the retirement complex was loss-making since its acquisition in 2009.
It also stated that MHA Auchlochan’s parent association, Methodist Homes, has provided significant financial support but losses have continued to accrue due to uneconomic service charges, staff and maintenance costs and low occupancy levels.
Auchlochan Garden Village is a residential retirement complex offering accommodation ranging from self-contained studios, flats and bungalows through to full-service care homes.
It sits in 50 acres of grounds and consists of 235 properties ranging from studio flats through to 3-bed bungalows. 55 of the flats and bungalows are vacant.
Additionally, the company operates the Lower Johnshill care home, located within the Garden Village, and Bankhouse care home located within neighbouring village, Lesmahagow.
The joint administrators will continue to operate Auchlochan Garden Village and the care homes as normal and will be appointing property agents to market the assets for sale.
Milne, restructuring partner with Azets and joint administrator, said: “Auchlochan Garden Village has been experiencing significant losses since the development was acquired by MHA Auchlochan. Despite the best efforts of the directors, and extensive financial support from Methodist Homes, a viable turnaround could not be achieved outside of an administration process.
“Due to the scale and complexity of the development it will take time to develop a strategy for the administration. In the meantime, it will remain ‘business as usual’ and we will work closely with the Care Inspectorate, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership and specialist agencies to support residents and their families during the process. We will also be offering the development for sale, either in whole or in part and would encourage any interested parties to contact the Glasgow office of Azets as soon as possible.”
